Moho (Part One: Rise of a Symbol) (10 page)

When I leave the temple, I realize how incredibly long the Meditosis session lasted. It is now dark outside and Center Island is deserted. Everyone seems to be sleeping and I can't wait to do the same. I make my way over to the dorm and for a short moment I think I see a small, blue light wiggling in midair by the entry of the dorm. I blink and it's gone.

"Moho!" a deep voice whispers.

I look around but the plaza in front of the dorm is still empty. So I continue walking towards the dorm. Then something small and hard hits my back and I hear it dropping to the ground behind me. I was hit by a little rock. That has to be Pax.

"Moho!" the voice whispers again, now a bit louder. Suddenly a tall, big figure jumps out of the bushes by the temple and runs towards the Springtreegrove. It's too dark to say who it is but it's probably a man and definitely not Pax. I follow him.

Before the man reaches the Springtreegrove, he turns left towards a land bridge connecting Center Island and the Black Island. He heads over to the Black Island and disappears amidst the tall, slender black rocks that populate the otherwise empty island. I can't find any sign of him until another tiny rock hits me, this time on my right arm. I turn right and see him half-running, half-stumbling down a short, steep path before he disappears once more. I am about to follow him again when the blue light reappears nearby the land bridge. It looks like a handful of blue, glistening sand that is floating above the dark, rocky ground of the Black Island. Then it flies back to Center Island, past the Springtreegrove, towards the dorm. My eyes linger on the sand until the darkness swallows it.

"Moho!" the man shouts. He came back and is now waiting at the bottom of the steep path in front of the entry to a cave. I run towards him and we enter the cave.

“Do you want me to throw a rock at your head?” I ask angrily.

He stops and turns towards me.

“I hear that Meditosis didn't eradicate your revenge ‘parasite’. Wanna feed it instead?” he asks. I instantly recognize the playful tone in this energetic voice. It's Vijay. I immediately forgive him for throwing rocks at me. I'm just so happy to spend time with the fun twin after hours of boredom with the uptight twin.

The confusing tunnel system of Maze Island is tiny compared to the cave system we've just entered. I feel completely lost after we've taken several turns left and right. There is no way that I will make it out of here on my own, but Vijay seems to know where we are going. The deeper we descend into the ground, the lower the temperature drops and the more water is dripping from the ceiling. The Black Island isn't very large, so we must be under the ocean by now. My stomach gets nervous. I feel a bit claustrophobic. Then the water stops dripping and starts hanging from the ceiling instead. It is freezing. I shiver.

"Relax. You will be sweaty soon enough." Vijay chuckles.

Before we make our final left turn, I can already hear the loud sound of bursting ice and see the familiar glow of Icestones guiding us towards a large chamber. Unlike most Glowing Stones I've seen so far, Icestones don't emit any heat. But they do emit a very bright, white glow from their transparent, hard body.

About two dozen people are in the chamber and apparently they all suffer from the same ‘sickness’ that I'm all too familiar with. They use their ability to mentally connect with matter to fight each other. And it's brutal. Simply watching their fights without even knowing any of the people in the chamber hurts - a lot. They launch all kinds of aggressive attacks at each other which are countered with equally aggressive responses. On the one hand, I almost feel the need to call Xerxes to put an end to this madness, but on the other hand the audible cheery atmosphere and the visible infectious joy in the chamber makes me want to be a part of this.

The kind of matter they use for their attacks is shocking, though. They poke, punch, push, pinch, slam, scratch, numb, exhaust, almost-freeze and almost-drown each other using ice and water. The very ‘liquid of creation’ no one is even allowed to touch according to Maya.

Vijay watches me watching them for a while. It's nerve-wracking. They are pushing each other right to the edge where the fights are still fun but then they stop. Always. And yet I can't help but fear that one will eventually go over the edge.

“So, um, your brother must be thrilled about your nighttime activity,” I say.

“There is stuff between us that is best not said out loud,” Vijay responds. “You know?”

“Yeah, actually I do,” I respond.

“Good. That's what I was counting on when I brought you here.”

“Not to judge you but some people would say that everyone here is sick. And if Xerxes and his folks would find this place... And The Vow! This here definitely breaks The Vow.”

“We call us half-jokingly ‘Anonymous Sickos’.”

“So you agree that violence is a sickness?”

“The ‘Sickos’ is the joke. The ‘Anonymous’ is not — at all,” he warns me. “We don't actually harm each other. It's all just fun. And anyway, happiness is in the fighting, not in getting what your needs want.”

“Oh my Spring! This is exactly what I told your brother earlier today!”

“Don’t waste your time with him on that argument,” he sighs.

“Yeah…” I agree. “But aren't you afraid The Spring knows what you are doing? I mean, using The Spring's liquid of creation is quite bold.”

“As you can see, it is as much the liquid of creation as it is the liquid of destruction. Most people are so fascinated by creation and despise destruction, but the two go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other. And let’s face it; it's actually just plain water. The whole glorification of The Spring is ridiculous. The Spring did neither prevent The First nor The Second Dark Time. The Spring doesn't care about what happens on Persadia until things go really, really bad. Or until chastes find a human. I don't know … The Spring seems pretty shady to me.”

“Then why are you here, on Cosmo's Islands?”

“Because that's where my brother wants to be,” he explains. It’s easy to forget that they are twins but in moments like this it becomes very clear. Their support for each other, or at least his support for Ravi, is pretty remarkable.

“You know, it's funny, not that long ago Pax got me into trouble for struggling with anger,” I remember.

“Anger can be just as much a positive emotion than it is a negative one. To me, revenge, anger, destruction, and so on represent energy, shaping life, following one's vision, pushing yourself forward in life - not letting myself be mistreated,” he states with so much passion that it’s slightly seductive. “Wanna try it?”

“Sure,” I answer but I'm half-l
ying. I'm not as comfortable as he is. I almost admire his free-spirited outlook in light of the disdain he would face from Ravi if his brother found out.

We walk across the chamber to one of the few areas that is not occupied by other AS. Most people are distracted when they see us passing by. I look into entirely unfamiliar faces but my face isn't unfamiliar to them. They must all have watched my selection on MNOP. While they seem nice and smile, they aren't greeting me which makes me feel uncomfortably uncertain about their stance on my presence. I probably should use TNOP to find out what they are thinking. Now I really do hope the
‘anonymous’ in Anonymous Sickos is taken seriously. And what if Pax walked in? I'd be finished.

Much of the rocky ground is covered in partially frozen water and so are most surfaces in the chamber. Icestones are hanging in midair and the clear, bright light is reflected in the ice crystals all around us. It results in a captivatingly clean, crisp look but also in a considerably cool climate. I'm cold but only until we start battling each other. Water, as it turns out, is mindbogglingly difficult to connect to. It's easier in frozen form but near impossible in liquid form. The advanced level of skill all other AS exhibit deserves tremendous respect. They must have trained for cycles. Especially Vijay who knows all sorts of attacks but always stops before it becomes too much for me to handle. He is more showing off his superiority and only attacks me a little. Plus, it's water so it doesn't hurt too much. But it is super cold and so we stay very active to avoid each other's attacks.

I'm sweaty and out of breath pretty soon, and my body tires rapidly. But my mind doesn't. The fact that all the mental connections to water and ice consume a lot of Essenchi almost doesn't matter. I can see how battling Vijay creates new Memorybubbles that satisfy my needs for social contact, creation, and curiosity while the fact that he is vastly more powerful causes some dissatisfaction in my needs for status, power, and acceptance. But on average, this activity leads to increased happiness and therefore to more Essenchi which I can use to counter Vijay's attacks more effectively. The more we train, the more skilled and happier I become. What's really surprising, though, is that contrary to what Ravi told me, my ‘parasite’ doesn't actually make me unhappy when I feed it with violent memories. Ravi is right in that my parasite grows when I take revenge on Vijay and it feeds on those Memorybubbles. But so does any of my other needs. My happiness and therefore Essenchi increases when I satisfy this need for revenge. It seems to me that instead of trying to fight my need, I should embrace it and not try to practice this boring Meditosis and force myself to change. Maya would disagree, though. But I can't tell her about this and so I'll never know for certain.

A combination of educational sessions with Maya at the different departments during the day, Meditosis with Ravi in the temple in the evening, and stress relief with Vijay in Crystal Cave at night is how I spend my first weeks and months at Cosmo's Islands.

It takes Maya several months to introduce me to all the sessions the different departments have to offer. She tends to push me towards sessions at the Department for Mind-Matter Connectivity at Element Islands. It's where she feels most at home and, albeit she is only an assistant and not a mentor, there is hardly anyone who can match her skills. To be honest, I'm not a fan of the department but I'm a fan of her happiness. And so
, I often pretend to be interested in the subject matter though I'm really only interested in her.

Like at any department, there are practical sessions that focus on actually improving a skill by, for instance, mentally connecting with matter. Then there are theoretical sessions that are basically
spent sitting on the ground in a circle with other learners, assistants, and the responsible mentor to talk about the practical sessions, new findings in the corresponding field, and one's own progress.

My favorite session is one of the most challenging ones. It's called ‘Matter Engineering’ and is basically the session that takes advantage of all the skills that are taught during other sessions on Element Islands. During my first few weeks, Maya helps me to redesign one of the music plants that were playing in the Springtreegrove on the night we met. Now it only hums when Maya's and my essence are nearby. It's a big hit and many try to copy it but they don't have Maya and so their attempts are pretty weak. Other practical sessions on Element Islands include ‘My Extended Physicality’, ‘Plasma & Miasma’, ‘Repulsive Magnetism’, and ‘Vibrations
in a Steady World’. The more theoretical sessions include ‘New Boundaries of My Body’, ‘Me, Myself, and I’, ‘Gases Today and Tomorrow’, ‘Fragility of Eternal Happiness’, and ‘Everyday Struggles of an Atom's Essence’. They are not just called theoretical sessions - the existence of the theory they intend to transfer is also more theoretical in nature.

My favorite department is the Department for Essence-Body Connectivity on Maze Island. I admire the mentors there for engineering CEBOS and their enduring efforts to improve and expand it. Maya doesn't like to spend much time between the sandstones of Maze Island and usually doesn't come with me to my sessions. The practical sessions are super difficult and slightly dangerous since many require
using one’s own CEBOS and by extension one’s mind to practice mental engineering.

My least favorite department is the Department for Inter Mind Connectivity on the Green Island and
this is only because Ravi is one of the assistants. Maya loves spending time with Ravi and she rarely lets me go to one of the sessions alone if she knows that Ravi will be present.

The sessions are challenging but rewarding. Practical sessions require a thorough understanding of the
networks of Persadia like KNOP, TNOP, INOP, and MNOP, which I don't have yet and they don't let any newly selected learners experiment with networks that are used by billions of navees. Anyway, I'm looking forward to participating in more practical sessions soon. For now, though, I have to make do with the theoretical sessions. ‘Implications of ENOP’ is the most interesting theoretical session. The mentors of the Green Island are developing a new network for Persadia that lets navees share their emotions. They are struggling and they haven’t decided on any specifics yet, but the idea is to let a navee refeel the emotion of another navee.

The closed departments of Cosmo's Islands are almost more interesting than the operating ones. Other than the Department for Inter Body Connectivity on the Red Island, there used to be the Department for Inter Essence Connectivity on the White Islands and the Department for Inter Matter Connectivity on the Blue Island.

Considering all the emphasis on connectivity and all the information available about each other, information about the history of Cosmo's Islands and the closed departments is suspiciously scarce. Almost as scarce as Cosmo himself who neither I nor anyone I’ve talked to has seen since Springday. But everyone says that's his normal behavior since The Second Dark Time. Why did his behavior change? No one knows. Right…